The 2011 TRIP survey of over 1700 international relations scholars ranks Joe Nye as the sixth most influential scholar in the field of international relations in the past twenty years.[4] He was also ranked as most influential in American foreign policy.

In 2011, Foreign Policy magazine named him to its list of top global thinkers.[5] The magazine's valued reporter Daniel Drezner wrote: "All roads to understanding American foreign policy run through Joe Nye."[6]

In September 2014, Foreign Policy reported that the international relations scholars and policymakers both ranked Nye as one of the most influential scholars.[7]

In October 2014, Secretary of State John Kerry appointed Nye to the Foreign Affairs Policy Board. The group meets periodically to discuss strategic questions and to provide the Secretary and other senior Department officials with independent informed perspectives and ideas.[14] In November 2014, Nye was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star in recognition of his "contribution to the development of studies on Japan-U.S. security and to the promotion of the mutual understanding between Japan and the United States."[15]

Nye serves as a Commissioner for the Global Commission on Internet Governance.[16]

Nye has published many works in recent years, the most recent being "Is the American Century Over?" in which he explains why the American century is far from over and what the United States must do to retain its lead in an era of increasingly diffuse power politics.[17] His earlier works include: "Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era (2013), The Future of Power (2011, ISBN 978-1-58648-891-8), Understanding International Conflicts, 7th ed (2009), The Powers to Lead (2008), The Power Game: A Washington Novel (2004), Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (2004), andThe Paradox of American Power(2002).